Father defends son, shoots at fleeing suspects

FRESNO – A Fresno father apparently trying to protect his son may have shot a man in the back Wednesday night.

According to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, two young men were sitting outside a house on the 2300 block of Selland Avenue near Clinton Avenue around 6:30 p.m. when four or five people covered in masks showed up and started attacking them. The masked suspects possibly used sticks, bats and a hammer during the assault.

The father of one of the victims, who was inside the home, heard the attack and grabbed his shotgun. He opened the garage door, at which point the son and friend rolled underneath, yelling, “They got me, they got me,” according to sheriff’s spokesperson Chris Curtice.

The father, who has not been named, fired several shots at the suspects, who then retreated toward a nearby car. Investigators believe one of the suspects may have been hit in the back by one of the shots.

Shortly after the incident, a gunshot victim was dropped off at Community Regional Medical Center suffering from non-life threatening injuries. Investigators are trying to determine whether he was one of the attackers.

The two victims of the beating were also taken to Community Regional Medical Center where they were treated for their non-life threatening injuries.

At this point in the investigation, the father is not facing any criminal charges. Curtice said that it “sounds like he was acting in self defense or in defense of his son and his son’s friend.”